Godsdiens het die politiek nodig en die politiek is weerloos daarsonder

Abstract

In 1996 Karel van der Toom published a very important book on family religion in Babylonia, Syria and Israel. He introduced us to the very exciting world of ancient man and his religion. This article stresses the importance of a history of religions approach. It furthermore focusses on the close link between religion and politics. Israel's religion was moulded and shaped by socio-economic powers; it was used by statesmen to support their political endeavours. Yahweh religion is thus the result of specific social powers which formed it in a specific era in Israel's history.